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Thursday, 16 May 2019

Saturn Quake Takes: Killing Them Slowly

I don’t need to tell you that Quake rocks. Father K already covered
that a while back, offering praise for it and the other iconic first person
shooters Lobotomy Software famously
ported to Sega’s mid-90s underdog console.

It’s also no secret that Quake’s presence on the Saturn was practically
a miracle in the first place. Digital Foundry’s John Linneman has even gone as
far as to dub it the “Impossible Port.”
The Saturn was notoriously a pain in the ass to develop for – particularly for devs
hoping to utilize the third dimension – and yet it still runs Quake somehow. Granted,
plenty of concessions were needed to make that happen. Compared to the PC
original, the Saturn Quake sports choppier frame rates, reduced responsiveness,
and less precise movement and aiming sans mouse and keyboard. But despite its limitations,
it remains infinitely more impressive than the PlayStation port of Quake…which
doesn’t exist.

Tech stuff aside, I’m more interested in delving into some interesting ways Saturn
Quake managed to differentiate its player experience from the classic PC original.
As a likely result of the technological and design compromises Lobotomy made to
get Quake to function on Saturn hardware, I quickly noticed the Saturn version
forces me to approach its gameplay in some fundamentally new and unexpected
ways.

Compared to the frantic run-and-gun chaos of the PC game, I found myself plodding
through each of Saturn Quake’s levels far more methodically and at a much
slower clip. I can no longer trust myself to smoothly negotiate its ledges and
trap-filled spaces or quickly dodge and pull off circle-strafe shots at will. As
the action heats up and everything goes to hell, you can bet I’ll find a way to
fuck up. Nowhere is this more evident than in my penchant for repeatedly falling
into the lava pit while trying to run around the goddamn Chthon boss.

Damn thing took me at least twenty tries.

While it’s easy to frame Quake Saturn’s technical and gameplay limitations in a
damning light – not that my own incompetence in aiming and navigating with the
gamepad isn’t also a key factor – I actually think the game’s technical concessions
generally work to its benefit. By forcing me to drastically slow down the game
flow, these limitations help establish a unique identity for Saturn Quake independent
of its PC upbringing.

Saturn Quake emphasizes preparation over improvisation. It requires me to focus
less on how I deal with enemies in the moment and more on planning out each
situation ahead of time – strategy and contingencies become crucial. After all,
if I screw up and get caught in a volley of ogre grenades, I’m unlikely to
simply dodge or circle strafe my way out of it lest I snag myself on the level’s
geometry or accidentally fall into lava and die anyway. Instead, my best bet is
to prepare my most effective weapon ahead of time, pay close attention to where
my cover is, and take as many cheap shots as I can to avoid engaging enemies directly.

The bouncing grenade launcher kicks ass, btw.

In its own way, I appreciate how Saturn Quake’s reduced margin for error raises the stakes of each encounter. I feel I need to be constantly aware of my positioning and carefully gauge my movements and jumps before attempting anything rash. The game pushes me to learn which monsters are where, plan out which weapons I’ll need and when, and even set up my aiming and retreat strategy ahead of time.At the end of the day, I find myself playing Saturn Quake almost like a methodical
horror game rather than the fast-paced, action-packed murderfest as originally
intended. I know this all sounds like a decisively un-Quake way to play Quake and
honestly, I’m okay with it.

Although Saturn Quake is far from a butter-smooth frag fest, turns out it plays
just fine as a tactical grenade-chucking simulator.

I remember when it launched, i mean, after the doom travesty i had little hope for this game and yet it delivered an amazing experience that would have cost me a £999 PC at the time. I agree that it is a more refined stealthier experience on the saturn than the pc, but none the worse for it.

We all love a bargain... I remember when I first started collecting for the Saturn as a "Retro Gamer" (as opposed to a curre...

Celebrating 11 years of existence...and 7 years of excellence

Welcome to The Saturn Junkyard, a shrine to Sega's sadly departed console, for all lovers of retro gaming. A place where you can come and relive the glory days of the nineties and find out about the Saturn as a console: We'll take a sideways look at it's games, it's peripherals, it's history, it's marketing, plus shine the occasional spotlight on console modding and the homebrew scene. We make no claims to being authoritative, and everything we discuss will come with a heavy dose of personal opinion and subjectivity. But hopefully we'll raise a smile or two along the way!